By L. Anne Newell and Tom Collins
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 20, 1997

Outoberfest celebrates gay pride

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat Elizabeth Vazquez ties up her hair revealing her tattoo. Festival-goers expressed their gay pride in various ways including clothing, make-up, and, tattoos.

It was warm Saturday.

Hot, even.

But Kenneth Blake was decked out in a really big wig.

It was 1 p.m. and he was Cher.

And a crowd of 25-30 year olds were enamored with him.

Such was the scene in Reid Park on the day of Outoberfest, Tucson's celebration of gay and lesbian pride.

This was the 20th annual pride festival, sponsored by the Tucson Gay and Lesbian Alliance, or TGLA - part of what vice-president Chad Froeschke calls the "largest human rights campaign in Southern Arizona."

Froeschke said 7,000 people were expected to attend the event which featured some 50 booths ranging from the Hydra clothing store to the Budweiser beer stand to the Log Cabin Republicans.

The Tucson-Pima County Library's booth included a puppet show telling the tale of the gay right's movement from its first shot at the Stonewall Club in New York City.

All the while, the Drag Show Extravaganza, featuring "Tucson's finest performers" raged on.

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat Miss Truly Faboo lip-synchs a jazz number during the Drag Show Extravaganza at the 20th annual gay and lesbian pride festival called Outoberfest.

The theme of the day, Froeschke said, was "Equality through Visibility."

"This is a day of reminding ourselves and everyone else of the equal rights we still need to achieve," Froeschke said.

A few feet from the drag show, Travis Hussey was minding the Log Cabin Republican's store. Hussey said the Republican Party's less than gay-friendly reputation was a mischaracterization, that one faction of the party was responsible for that image.

"The original creed states that the Republican Party is looking for equal rights for all people," Hussey said.

Despite that, Hussey said, some one had walked by the booth and flashed a Nazi salute.

"It hurts," Hussey said.

UA management and information systems graduate student Jeff Perry said the festival was comfortable, but nothing compared to what he was used to in Boston.

"It's the closest thing they have to pride," Perry said.

He said Boston's celebration included a parade and a concert among other events. But, Perry said this Outoberfest was right for a "scaled-down city."

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat Kenneth Blake, as Cher, waits off-stage to perform to a crowd of about 70 people during the Outoberfest.

The day did feature appearances by Tucson Mayor George Miller and Tucson City Council member Steve Leal, D-Ward 5.

Miller made his sixth annual proclamation of support for the "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community."

Leal said he was there to support people "victimized by different parts of society" who had the courage to "stand up and rally as a community."

TGLA's Elaine Cooper has been coming out to city pride events for nine years, since her son revealed his homosexuality.

"(The event) solidifies their pride in themselves," Cooper said.